KIWI YAMABUSHI

Kia ora Koutou, I'm Tim Bunting, The Kiwi Yamabushi. I am a practicing Dewa Sanzan Yamabushi Japanese mountain ascetic (What's a Yamabushi?). I have been living in Yamagata, Tohoku, north Japan, since 2010. Since 2016, I have trained as a yamabushi under Master Fumihiro Hoshino through Daishobo pilgrim's lodge on Haguro-san, and through Dewa Sanzan Jinja. If you want to find out more about how you too can train in the ways of Shugendo, check out Yamabushido.jp (tell them I sent you).


In my spare time I write stories about the overlooked side of Japan, namely up here in the Tohoku region. I write a daily blog, have a newsletter with over 1,000 subscribers, have a YouTube channel also with over 1,000 subscribers, and am on most socials as @kiwiyamabushi.

I am currently on a mission to summit and document all 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata.

I am available for online consultation, public speaking in both English and Japanese, and I am able to guide you on The Dewa Sanzan mountains by working through Yamabushido.jp or DewaSanzan.com. As a Master Yamabushi and the creator of Dewasanzan.com, I believe I am the most knowledgable native English speaker on these three mountains.

POPULAR ARTICLES

My newsletter articles are free to read on Substack for a week, but you can just get them sent to your email for free if you subscribe. After that, they are only available to paid subscribers. However, articles that get more than 1,000 reads I put here so everyone can enjoy them. All of the articles can be found here.

Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi
(Re) Discovering my origin story

How I came to live in rural Japan

coffee beans
Joining a Local Japanese Coffee Brewing Competition

Notice I didn't say 'winning'.

The real star of Japanese cuisine

How this humble plant made it to the top of my list of Japanese foods

MOUNTAINS OF YAMAGATA

Here are a few posts of my adventures climbing the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata. Read about the project here, or view all articles here.

THIS. IS. YAMAGARTA: Japan’s 300 Moment. 

How this tiny peak turned feudal Japan’s biggest battle on its head

Mt. Haguro's Five Story Pagoda
Why This Tiny Mountain MUST be on Your Japan Itinerary: Haguro-san

Home to Haguro Shugendo and the Dewa Sanzan Yamabushi mountain monks

The Pyramids of… Japan? — Yakushi-san and The OG Japan content creator (Mt. Yakushi)

Small pyramidal peak in the northern Yamagata town of Kaneyama

DAILY YAMABUSHI

Here are some of my Daily Yamabushi posts. Get more here.

Tim Bunting AKA Kiwi Yamabushi on Zao-san
Getting back up to speed

It’s easier to just not stop

Tim Bunting AKA Kiwi Yamabushi on Zao-san
The difference is in the doing

Do the difference

Tim Bunting AKA Kiwi Yamabushi on Zao-san
The best we got gets better

The best we got gets us better

KIWI YAMABUSHI

Tim Bunting Kiwi Yamabushi

Get updates from the mountains of Japan in your email for free! Sign up for the Kiwi Yamabushi newsletter here.

Sakata City, Yamagata, Japan 

timb008@gmail.com

All photos my own unless otherwise stated. Contact for more. 

Share this:

Like this:

Like Loading...
Scroll to Top